Two out of three is bad: Australia admits aid failures in Myanmar

The Australian government has admitted that two out of its three key performance criteria are below expectations on aid to Myanmar as its military funding to that nation's controversial army comes under renewed attack.

In its Myanmar Aid Program Performance Report 2018, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said government spending on education, rural livelihoods and humanitarian assistance was on track and had met or exceeded performance targets in 2017-18.

However, it conceded that in the areas of promoting peace and stability and inclusive economic growth, successes were limited. Both of these areas needed to be reviewed, the report said, with lack of progress in promoting gender equity of particular concern.

A freedom of information request revealed that the Department of Defence had set aside $390,000 last year for "peacekeeping training, English language training and officer education and professionalisation" with the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw. The military is in the spotlight over its involvement with the Rohingyan atrocities. Defence said it does not fund any direct military operations.

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However, non-government group Human Rights Watch slammed the military funding, particularly because Australia does not vet individual officers.

"It's frankly outrageous that Australia does not vet the soldiers sent by the murderous Myanmar military for training," said Phil Robertson, deputy director, Asia Division.

"How does the government think the Australian taxpayer would feel if they learned their tax dollars are benefiting soldiers and commanders with blood on their hands? According to the UN, the Tatmadaw has committed crimes against humanity against numerous different ethnic peoples of Myanmar, and quite possibly genocide against the Rohingya so there can be no 'business as usual' with this military."

The organisation sent a letter to Defence Minister Christopher Pyne in December calling for urgent action to review the vetting process.

Both Britain and France have cancelled funding to the Tatmadaw. A UN report released in September said any engagement with the military was "indefensible" unless its leadership was replaced and it was reformed.

In response, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne announced financial sanctions and travel bans against five members of the Tatmadaw. The US had announced similar restrictions in August.

The 2017-18 DFAT report into $84.2 million of aid spent comes against the backdrop of the largest humanitarian crisis in the region, with about 900,000 Rohingya Muslims displaced to Bangladesh, and more than 530,000 Rohingya stuck in Rakhine State.

"The operating environment in Myanmar has become more challenging. This has resulted in downgrading the performance ratings of two of the three objectives," the DFAT report said.

The report also revealed extensive problems with quality control checks. Only 33 per cent of checks returned adequate performance information. DFAT attributed the high rate of failure to the "traditional, linear approaches used to measuring [sic] performance".

"Quality scores for most Myanmar investments have declined significantly against most criteria. In 2017-18, 78 per cent of investments were considered satisfactory on effectiveness, down from 100 per cent in 2016-17. Similarly, the satisfactory rating for efficiency dropped from 85 to 56 per cent," the report said.

The DFAT report said Australian aid had improved the school learning environment for more than 10 million Myanmar students by providing grants to more than 47,000 government and monastic schools. Stipends were also given to 46,605 disadvantaged students (53.6 per cent girls) to enable them to continue their education.

A DFAT spokesman said it would conduct a review of the aid program in the first half of 2019. It said the three key areas remain relevant and appropriate.